Brady Bunch Home Decor - Greg's Groovy Pad

The Internet thinks it's so cool, but there's one thing it's sorely lacking: images of Greg's groovy home-office-turned-den-of-iniquity from the second-season Brady Bunch episode, "Our Son The Man." Why I think it's so important that this ridiculous set design be featured for all of posterity, I can't say. I never said I was logical in my thinking patterns.

I only know there's been times when I needed these images as reference for some project, and they didn't exist seemingly anywhere. So here they are with commentary. I don't know what else the Internet needs from me. I've done all I can for today.

And now...

So it's 1971 and Greg's in high school. He's outgrown his shared bedroom with its bunk beds, other brothers, wood paneling, and terrifying clown illustration. He needs his own space. Mike Brady isn't so sure. He's still trying to figure out how to get plaids and stripes to go together.

It's up to Carol to talk dad into letting Greg take over his home-office den so that their eldest son can have a little individualistic privacy. Where will Mike work on his architecture plans? Perhaps in the Brady carport. I always liked the screen above their bed. Almost Asian-inspired except it has a turquoise frame. Everything was framed in turquoise back then.



Mike reluctantly gives up his man cave for the greater good. Greg relishes the bong-hit possibilities.



Bunk beds are for losers.



Note: Mike is such an architectural genius, he was able to design a house with an upstairs (and attic--for another Greg episode) with no actual upstairs. And he created a housing plan that included a maid's quarters but had only two bedrooms, and a shared bathroom (with no toilet) for six kids. This geographical impossibility set up a built-in surreal factor as soon as the Bradys stepped into their new home and combined lives together.



Check out the Brady art collection throughout the house. It ranges from small-town crafts-fair landscapes to this completely insane abstract by the stairs. Perhaps this was painted by Mike's late wife, who is never mentioned throughout the entire series.



Here we go. Greg's apparently used his life's savings for a shopping trip to Urban Outfitters...oop, I mean Spencer's Gifts and now everything's outta sight.



Kind of...




I can't figure out what's up with all the wooden crates. I grew during the time of The Brady Bunch and none of us had wooden crates in our rooms. Is Greg planning on hosting a lot of cocktail parties and is in need of places to set drinks down? Where's the bean bag chair? Where's the Bruce Lee poster? There's no portable turntable although swingin' music plays throughout this scene.



The Brady Bunch always went for the broadest of comedy even if it made their characters look mentally challenged. I mean, Mike and Carol live in Southern California throughout the 60s. They've never seen a mobile or hippie decor? In this episode, they're strictly from squaresville.



Greg can't wait to try smoking nutmeg in his new room.



Crates.



To go with his new image, Greg hits his dad up for more money for some smashing threads.



But his counter-culture vision doesn't jive with the atomic-tangerine and avocado Formica ways of his parents.



And most crushingly of all, nobody wants to hang out with a guy wearing a headband, fringed vest and flowered shirt, despite his hip lighting scheme.



The light dims as Greg realizes the ugly truth. In Sherwood Schwartz' world, it's hip to be square.



Mike and Carol, in their powder-blue polyester and safety-orange acrylic comfort zone, couldn't agree more.



Next week: Jan buys an ugly wig.